Manchester United and Spurs both won their respective Europa League semi-finals on Thursday evening and look good value to face one another in the final on 21 May in Bilbao.
United beat 10-man Athletic Club 3-0 away in Bilbao, while Spurs drew first blood by defeating Bodo/Glimt 3-1 at home. And it means a never-before-seen scenario could be on the cards for the Premier League when it comes to European football.
Arsenal‘s win over Real Madrid in the quarter finals confirmed that the Premier League’s top five will qualify for next season’s Champions League – courtesy of one of the two European Performance Spots (EPS) introduced for the current campaign.
Italy and Germany benefited this season, with Bologna and Borussia Dortmund playing in the Champions League after finishing fifth in their respective leagues.
Whoever finishes in fifth spot in the Premier League will therefore get into Europe’s premier club competition.
How many Premier League teams can play in next season’s Champions League?
As it stands, Liverpool, Arsenal, Newcastle, Manchester City and Chelsea will play in the Champions League next season. And because United and Spurs are guaranteed to finish outside of European places after poor domestic campaigns, the winner of a potential all-English Europa League final would become the sixth Premier League club to make the Champions League next term.
According to Dale Johnson of ESPN, If Arsenal were to go all the way and finally win the Champions League but also somehow finish outside the top five, that number would increase to an unprecedented seven in European football’s top tournament.
How many Premier League teams can play in Europe next season?
There are so many possible permutations, including whether Chelsea finish in the top five and win the Conference League, as well as Carabao Cup winners Newcastle’s final position and how FA Cup finalists Manchester City get on.
As per ESPN, it is possible but “highly improbable” that England has 11 teams across the three European competitions next season.
That would be made up of the top five and the Europa League and Champions League winners (Arsenal) in the primary competition, with sixth, the FA Cup winners and Conference League winners qualifying for the Europa League and Carabao Cup winners Newcastle having to settle for the third UEFA club tournament.
Carabao Cup winners Newcastle will be hoping to secure a return to Champions League football. Image: Getty
Taking a realistic view, 10 is likely the maximum given Arsenal would need a collapse of epic proportions to miss out on domestic European qualification. This scenario would require Chelsea to win the Conference League but fail to make the top six, which is still possible going into the final stretch.
Teams from one to five and United or Spurs would get in the Champions League through the Europa League, with sixth, the FA Cup winners and Conference League winners Chelsea getting into secondary showpiece.
Newcastle would qualify for the Conference League through their Carabao Cup triumph.
